Origin of a Species
by Laureril
Summary: What happens when an Aes Sedai finds something meant to be kept secret forever? Minor controversial themes


Disclaimer: I am NOT a programmer by any means. These commands are based on DOS that I learned loosely in less than ten minutes. The world belongs to RJ... Altrina belongs to herself I guess. AKA: I own nothing but random buts of junk that floated together in my head to make this story.  
  
AN: Serious controversy is explored in this fic. I realize that some people are entirely against genetic engineering. I respect your opinions. If this subject bothers you, I'm sorry, but no one is forcing you to read this.  
  
Altrina Sedai left her rooms in the white ajah's quarters and padded down the stairs, toward the storerooms. Strange that she of all people had been asked, asked, to study one of the unknown angreal in the basements. . That almost never happened anymore. Usually the sisters were very independent. She arranged her shawl unconsciously over her Tearian dress and paused for a moment near a mirror to ensure that every one of her dark hairs was in its place. Come to think of it, she was curious about the angreal held in the bowels of the White Tower. Logically there was a purpose for each item in the storerooms. Perhaps she could uncover this one's raison d'être. Suana had suggested at her raising that she should perhaps be in brown as she was curious, but where would knowledge come from without logic to enforce it?  
  
She hadn't been down here since her days as an Accepted when she had taken some time to learn about angreal firsthand with a sister who had wanted an aide while she tested. She still had a nasty scar on her side from where the one had exploded. The sister had only barley survived, and Altrina had learned to be cautious after that, using only the finest weaves and only changing one thing at a time.  
  
With a small start, she realized that she had already come to the wrought- iron doors that held the unknown angreal in them. A small sign nearby asked that there be no channeling within ten feet of the doors. The brown librarian stationed at this door looked up from her musty book. She looked almost ready to bob a curtsey before remembering that she too was wearing a shawl. "Can I help you?" she asked tentatively.  
  
"I was asked to inspect one of the angreal here. Will you please get someone to aid me in moving it, as it is rather large?" The brown nodded and almost scurried up the stairs to retrieve a pair of boys that were preparing to become warders. One was tall and almost scrawny looking, and the other was mostly unremarkable beyond a few bruises.  
  
The brown sister withdrew a large key from her pocket, after a moment of search that uncovered several hasty notes on scraps of paper, and inserted it into the lock. She turned it and pushed the doors open, revealing a collection of strange artifacts, some of which dated back possibly before the Age of Legends. The sister and two boys followed Altrina to a grayish box connected by wires to another box with a black window in it and a long, flat object covered in buttons. The two boys carefully carried the thing to a small room set apart for testing ter'angreal.  
  
It was square and mostly un-adorned. The thick walls were painted a flat white and the only piece of furniture was a rough wooden table, on which were a bottle of ink, some paper and a quill. The boys set the three pieces on the table and left. Altrina told the brown sister that she didn't expect to be more than a few hours, and then the younger sister left.  
  
"If you aren't out in a few hours or I feel your ward go down, I'm going to check on you." She called over her shoulder. As the door shut behind her, Altrina wove a strong shield to keep the effects of her research contained. As an added bonus, they kept any other weave inside well hidden.  
  
She studied the outsides of the strange boxes. They were all the same flat gray, except that on one side of the second box, a plate of black glass broke the monotony. Each of the buttons on the flat grey object had a single character written on it. She carefully pressed one of the buttons on the flat piece and jumped back almost flat against the wall. Nothing happened. Surely there was a reason for the thing. Perhaps this angreal required channeling? She embraced the source and tried again, gently probing with a weave similar to probes used by the yellow ajah. She found a small spot that seamed to almost attract her tiny braid of water and air. The angreal buzzed a little, almost as if it needed something else to complete its job. Cautiously, she added Spirit. When nothing happened she removed Spirit and added Fire. The ter'angreal hummed to life. The black window flickered and a small blinking line appeared in the upper corner of the screen.  
  
Altrina looked at the little blinking line for a moment before a few more characters appeared on the black window. C:\ The little line was blinking again. She pressed one of the buttons again. This time something did happen. C:\h Altrina stopped and looked down at the button she had pushed and noted that it was the same as the one on the window. She scribbled some notes on the paper provided and pressed another button, this one with a strange shape and an arrow. Invalid command.  
  
She pressed more buttons, anxious to know what this ter'angreal did, and even more anxious to make sure is did not blow up in her face. Pressing random keys and pressing the arrow key after every few yielded the same line. She finally became frustrated (to a small degree) and tapped out 'help' on the buttons. The screen flickered and wrote out a long bit on how to use the commands. She tested one of them. Dir C:\ and pressed the arrow button.  
  
Suddenly a long list of white appeared. She selected a 'file' at random and typed it in. dir c:\project She selected again at random. Dir C:\project\earthquake  
  
One thing especially caught her attention: Journal.exe. She was curious about what someone would write in this thing. Maybe it was used to store documents. That would be a good use for a ter'angreal. Every time she looked at the libraries, she winced. The documents made to be grouped were scattered all over. You would have to practically live at the library to find anything. It just did not make sense. Perhaps she would work on devising a logical plan for storing the information in the libraries more neatly.  
  
She mentally chided herself for allowing her mind to wander. She found the buttons to type journal.exe and hit the arrow button again. The screen went black then white words appeared.  
  
Entry 01 (ID 1539CA-2039-001) James Wesson 19/07/2067  
I have written this journal to record events in project earthquake. We at Oak Point have been working for years to understand why some animals have the ability to sense earthquakes. I speak of dogs and cats especially. We have discovered and isolated the gene that allows them to do so. Just yesterday, a man approached us for the Experimental Genetics department of the Military. They have asked us to continue research to create humans who can sense the weather or seismic change. He assured us that all our funds would be approved, and that he is sure this sort of ability would save the lives of thousands around the world.  
I don't know if I believe him, but I have no say in the matter, since the head scientist has already said yes.  
  
The blinking line waited at the bottom of the screen.  
  
A/N time! This story isn't done yet! I've still got a lot more to go. If you haven't guessed, the angreal is actually a computer. No, there will not be cannon characters in this, except referred to in passing. Any questions? 


End file.
